Fragments 61–70
Original Ancient Greek
61 θάλασσα ὕδωρ καθαρώτατον καὶ μιαρώτατον, ἰχθύσι μὲν πότιμον καὶ σωτήριον, ἀνθρώποις δὲ ἄποτον καὶ ὀλέθριον.
62 ἀθάνατοι θνητοί, θνητοὶ ἀθάνατοι, ζῶντες τὸν ἐκείνων θάνατον, τὸν δὲ ἐκείνων βίον τεθνεῶτες.
63 ἔνθα δ’ ἐόντι ἐπανίστασθαι καὶ φύλακας γίνεσθαι ἐγερτὶ ζώντων καὶ νεκρῶν.
64 τὰ δὲ πάντα οἰακίζει Κεραυνός.
65 (καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸ) χρησμοσύνην καὶ κόρον.
66 πάντα γάρ, (φησί,) τὸ πῦρ ἐπελθὸν κρινεῖ καὶ καταλήψεται.
67 ὁ θεὸς ἡμέρη εὐφρόνη, χειμὼν θέρος, πόλεμος εἰρήνη, κόρος λιμός (τἀναντία ἅπαντα· οὗτος ὁ νοῦς), ἀλλοιοῦται δὲ ὅκωσπερ ⟨πῦρ⟩, ὁπόταν συμμιγῆι θυώμασιν, ὀνομάζεται καθ’ ἡδονὴν ἑκάστου.
67a sic⟨ut⟩ aranea, (ait,) stans in medio telae sentit, quam cito musca aliquem filum suum corrumpit itaque illuc celeriter currit quasi de fili perfectione dolens, sic hominis anima aliqua parte corporis laesa illuc festine meat quasi impatiens laesionis corporis, cui firme et proportionaliter iuncta est.
68 (καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰκότως αὐτὰ) ἄκεα (Ἡ. προσεῖπεν ὡς ἐξακεσόμενα τὰ δεινὰ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἐξάντεις ἀπεργαζόμενα τῶν ἐν τῆι γενέσει συμφορῶν).
69 (θυσιῶν τοίνυν τίθημι διττὰ εἴδη· τὰ μὲν) τῶν ἀποκεκαθαρμένων παντάπασιν ἀνθρώπων, οἷα ἐφ’ ἑνὸς ἄν ποτε γένοιτο σπανίως, (ὥς φησιν Ἡ.,) ἢ τινων ὀλίγων εὐαριθμήτων ἀνδρῶν.
70 (πόσωι δὴ οὖν βέλτιον Ἡ.) παίδων ἀθύρματα (νενόμικεν εἶναι τὰ ἀνθρώπινα δοξάσματα).
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of all 130 genuine fragments in Hermann Diels’s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (4th ed., 1922), made directly from the Ionic Greek and Latin and checked against the printed page. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
61 Sea: water purest and foulest, drinkable and life-preserving for fish, undrinkable and deadly for humans.
62 Immortals mortal, mortals immortal: living the others’ death, dead in the others’ life.
63 They rise before the one who is there and become wakeful guardians of the living and the dead.
64 Thunderbolt steers all things.
65 (He calls it) want and fullness.
66 For all things (he says) will be judged and seized by fire when it comes.
67 God is day night, winter summer, war peace, fullness hunger (all opposites: this is the meaning); he changes as fire does when mixed with incense, taking a name from the savor of each.
67a Just as a spider (he says), standing in the middle of its web, feels it as soon as a fly breaks one of its threads and swiftly runs there, as though grieving for the thread’s wholeness, so the human soul, when any part of the body is hurt, hurries there, as though unable to bear injury to the body, to which it is firmly joined in due proportion.
68 (And for this reason they were rightly called) remedies (by Heraclitus, as things that would cure terrors and raise souls above the misfortunes of coming into being).
69 (I distinguish, then, two kinds of sacrifices: those) of people utterly purified, such as might occur in one person only rarely (as Heraclitus says), or in a few men who can easily be counted.
70 (How much better, then, that Heraclitus took for) children’s playthings (the opinions of human beings).
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same 130 fragments. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
61 The sea is the purest and most polluted water. For fish it is drinkable and keeps them alive; for people it is undrinkable and deadly.
62 Immortals are mortal, mortals immortal: they live the others’ death and are dead in the others’ life.
63 And they rise before the one who is there and become watchful guards of the living and the dead.
64 The Thunderbolt steers everything.
65 (He calls it) need and fullness.
66 For when fire comes (he says), it will judge and seize everything.
67 God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, fullness and hunger (all the opposites—this is the meaning). But he changes like fire: when it is mixed with incense, it gets its name from the pleasant scent of each kind.
67a Just as a spider (he says) standing in the middle of its web feels at once when a fly breaks one of its threads, and quickly runs there as if distressed that the thread is no longer whole, so a person’s soul, when some part of the body is injured, rushes there as if unable to bear the injury to the body, to which it is firmly joined in due proportion.
68 (And for this reason they were rightly called) remedies (by Heraclitus, since they would cure terrible ills and make souls safe from the misfortunes of life).
69 (So I distinguish two kinds of sacrifice. One kind is that) of completely purified people, such as might occur only rarely in the case of one person (as Heraclitus says) or a few easily counted people.
70 (How much better, then, that Heraclitus regarded as) children’s playthings (the opinions people hold).
About this section
Fragments 61–70 is part of Fragments by Heraclitus. This page sets the Ancient Greek original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 7 of 13 in the work, which is kept in the Greek tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the Greek tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.